Was reorganizing some of my storage last night and came across this sunset shot from a trip to Grand Cayman a while back and decided to revisit it and focus on some of the new retouching methods I’ve learned since then. I still clearly remember the day as one of the best sunsets I’ve seen, because the sky looked like it was on fire. Caribbean sunsets really are the best. Here’s a brief step-by-step on how I did it:
Lightroom Adjustments
- Straighten horizon
- Reduce the ‘Blacks’ slider to eliminate any black clipping in the histogram.
- Increase the ‘Recovery’ slider to recover some lost detail in the highlights, eliminating as much white clipping as possible.
- Adjust white balance
- Export to Photoshop
Photoshop CS3 Adjustments
- Create a ‘Curves’ adjustment layer to increase overall contrast.
- Create another ‘Curves’ adjustment layer only affecting the sky to add a bit more contrast to the clouds.
- Added a ‘Photo Filter’ adjustment layer, with a warming filter, to warm up the scene a bit.
- Dodged and burned a bit in the clouds and the suns rays to bring them out a bit more.
- Flatten image, convert to LAB color.
- Use the ‘Apply Image’ to give the color a bit more punch. Settings: Soft Light blending, ‘B’ channel. (The ‘B’ channel in LAB mode controls the yellow to blue spectrum)
- Convert back to RGB
- Duplicate background layer, use High-Pass Filter for sharpening (4px). For those not familiar with the high pass method, Leggnet has a great write-up.
- From there I set the high-pass layer to soft light, flattened the image, save and brought back to Lightroom and VOILA.
Sorry I didn’t get the chance to do screenshot throughout the process, was kinda late last night when I did it and I was jamming to get through it. As always, if you have any questions, hit me up in the comments. Oh and if you like it, don’t forget to add to your faves on flickr 
Changing it up a bit today with some mouth-watering, lip-smacking goodness… food porn. Food is undoubtedly one of the most challenging things to shoot and something I’ve yet to fully tackle, but at times you will be presented with food that is so damn attractive that the shots will be great, even if you’re like me and have no idea what you’re doing. More photos, tips, and some food photo links after the jump…
Continue reading ‘Mouth-Watering Food Porn’
Being that I’ve been digging up some old stuff, I’m finally getting around to making a post I’ve been meaning to get done for a while. Most of our readers know we are into concert photography here at CameraPorn, and this post is shares my most memorable experience in that realm. Last summer I had all-access to shoot The Wailers.. yes those Wailers, at a performance at the House of Blues in Hollywood. Photos and tips after the jump…
Continue reading ‘The Wailers - Live at the House of Blues’
No, it isn’t Mars. The picture you see above is an area called Jumbo Rocks in Joshua Tree National Park just before sunrise. I recently had the opportunity to visit the park, and WOW… It really is one of the most amazing places I’ve ever seen. It has a huge variety of scenery and sprawls across a huge area where the Mojave and Colorado deserts meet. If you ever have a chance to go, I highly recommend it. All the photos and kit after the jump…
Continue reading ‘Photo Porn: Joshua Tree National Park’
Several weeks back, I posed a challenge to CameraPorn readers. Take an image I dug out of my archives in the form of three bracketed exposures and retouch it into the best final image possible. The “Revisit & Retouch” project was meant to be an exercise in compositing these bracketed exposures into one image, taking details from each, but what it became was an interesting and educational view into the personal style of each of the entrants.
Here’s what everyone started with:
After the jump we have 17 different interpretations and the best part, everyone gets to vote for their favorite image…
Continue reading ‘One Image - 17 Amazing Interpretations’
Brian Auer
Brian’s write-up
Well, the entries keep pouring in, and I’m surprised and impressed that each entry has its own unique feel. More entries after the jump…
Continue reading ‘Retouch and Revisit - Entries #6, #7, #8, #9, #10′
For a first visit to a city, I’d say it was a photographic success. Saw a good amount of the city, ate some good food, went on a photowalk, and even randomly ran into a protest… it is San Francisco after all.
Photos and kit after the jump…
Continue reading ‘Photo Porn - San Francisco’
Ryan Harvey
The fourth submitted entry for the “Retouch and Revisit” project by Ryan Harvey.
More on this entry, and #4 and #5 after the jump!
Continue reading ‘Retouch and Revisit - #4 and #5: Ryan Harvey and Phill Price’
Arnoldas Ramonas
The second entry for the “Retouch and Revisit” project by Arnoldas Ramonas.
Arnoldas went or a more saturated and colorful look. To view how he did it, click here.
Tim Grimshaw
The third entry for the “Retouch and Revisit” project by Tim Grimshaw.
Tim went in a different direction, creating a dark foreboding scene. To view how he did it, click here.
There’s still over a week before the deadline (January 25th), so you still have plenty of time to enter! Click here for entry details.
Well folks, we’ve received our first entry into the “Retouch and Revisit” Project and wow I’m impressed. To accompany this wonderful image, Ryan did a VERY thorough blog post on his blog, blog.rrdphoto.com. Great work Ryan D. and awesome blog post explaining how you did it. I’m most impressed with the level of detail in general and especially with what he was able to get out of the rocks as well as the dreamy feel of the whole scene. Awesome work. To check out how he did it and see this image larger, click here.
Remember, the deadline for entries isn’t until January 25th, so there’s still plenty of time to take a stab at it. Click here for entry details.
